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Elections are one way of selecting government officials. Authoritarianism is a political philosophy that can be pursued no matter how one was selected. Yes, man

Elections are one way of selecting government officials. Authoritarianism is a political philosophy that can be pursued no matter how one was selected. Yes, many/most authoritarians arise either not in democracies, or else in situations where the elections are mostly/entirely a sham, but that is not a requirement. You could, at least in principle, have an authoritarian surveillance state where the government watches and controls everything you do...and the people could consistently (and freely!) be electing the officials enacting that state. In other words, authoritarian and democracy/election are not antonyms.

nailer 2y ago
[flagged]
- MostlyStable 2y ago
  "regime" just means government. You are taking common associations and turning them into hard and fast rules when they aren't. "Biden regime" was a completely accurate (and frequently used) description of the last administration (and almost every other preceding administration). As for your second sentence, while it is often dramatically overstated, I think that Trump having authoritarian tendencies is pretty obviously true. The extent to which he has successfully instantiated those tendencies is up for considerable debate. I think the answer is probably not "not at all". In case it needs to be said, I think that almost every modern presidency has, (to quite varying extents) had some amount of authoritarian tendencies, in the sense that they have all sought to increase the unchecked power of the executive branch at the expense of both the other two branches, and the rights of the populace. I think Trump would, were he able, pretty dramatically extend this trend, but he won't have started it, and it remains to be seen how much farther he succeeds at going than other recent presidents.
  - nailer 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - sanderjd 2y ago
      Nothing you pasted here suggests that those attributes are required for the definition of "authoritarian regime", it is just a characterization of "the most notable authoritarian regimes" as it itself says in the text.
      - nailer 2y ago
        [flagged]
        sanderjd 2y ago
        You're right that most people in this thread are likely native english speakers, but that just means that we can understand that the weird narrow read of the words "authoritarian regime" is silly and, based on other comments you've made, very likely just you being purposely obtuse for partisan reasons.
        nailer 2y ago
        I’m not sure why you feel the need to respond to me on multiple threads. As mentioned elsewhere, I am not the source of the common meaning of the term, I do not edit the encyclopaedia, the newspapers, take the photos or anything else you will see on the front page of Google when you search for “authoritarian regime”. You know what an authoritarian regime commonly means, and you know what you were trying to do, and you just don’t like being called on it. Someone is indeed using HN for partisan advocacy and we both know it’s you.
        fc417fc802 2y ago
        > I am not the source of the common meaning of the term, The accuracy of your claim regarding common meaning is being disputed. You might notice that well over half of the quote you pasted from Britannica is referring to totalitarian, not authoritarian, regimes. Nowhere does it say anything like "the term authoritarian regime is commonly taken to imply".
- sanderjd 2y ago
  Nobody in this thread has said "this is a single-party regime akin to Iraq or North Korea".
  - nailer 2y ago
    No, they used the term ‘authoritarian regime’ which commonly means this. See the references I have posted elsewhere in this thread.
    - sanderjd 2y ago
      It doesn't though. You are the only one who has brought up these other countries.
      - nailer 2y ago
        I am not Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
        sanderjd 2y ago
        No, you're just the person misrepresenting what it says.
        nailer 2y ago
        I’m quoting it. There’s not much I could possibly do to misrepresent it, and as I’ve mentioned, I don’t control every other result on Google which is also entirely similar.
- deleted 2y ago
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nailer 2y ago

[flagged]

MostlyStable 2y ago
"regime" just means government. You are taking common associations and turning them into hard and fast rules when they aren't. "Biden regime" was a completely accurate (and frequently used) description of the last administration (and almost every other preceding administration). As for your second sentence, while it is often dramatically overstated, I think that Trump having authoritarian tendencies is pretty obviously true. The extent to which he has successfully instantiated those tendencies is up for considerable debate. I think the answer is probably not "not at all". In case it needs to be said, I think that almost every modern presidency has, (to quite varying extents) had some amount of authoritarian tendencies, in the sense that they have all sought to increase the unchecked power of the executive branch at the expense of both the other two branches, and the rights of the populace. I think Trump would, were he able, pretty dramatically extend this trend, but he won't have started it, and it remains to be seen how much farther he succeeds at going than other recent presidents.
- nailer 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - sanderjd 2y ago
    Nothing you pasted here suggests that those attributes are required for the definition of "authoritarian regime", it is just a characterization of "the most notable authoritarian regimes" as it itself says in the text.
    - nailer 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - sanderjd 2y ago
        You're right that most people in this thread are likely native english speakers, but that just means that we can understand that the weird narrow read of the words "authoritarian regime" is silly and, based on other comments you've made, very likely just you being purposely obtuse for partisan reasons.
        nailer 2y ago
        I’m not sure why you feel the need to respond to me on multiple threads. As mentioned elsewhere, I am not the source of the common meaning of the term, I do not edit the encyclopaedia, the newspapers, take the photos or anything else you will see on the front page of Google when you search for “authoritarian regime”. You know what an authoritarian regime commonly means, and you know what you were trying to do, and you just don’t like being called on it. Someone is indeed using HN for partisan advocacy and we both know it’s you.
        fc417fc802 2y ago
        > I am not the source of the common meaning of the term, The accuracy of your claim regarding common meaning is being disputed. You might notice that well over half of the quote you pasted from Britannica is referring to totalitarian, not authoritarian, regimes. Nowhere does it say anything like "the term authoritarian regime is commonly taken to imply".
sanderjd 2y ago
Nobody in this thread has said "this is a single-party regime akin to Iraq or North Korea".
- nailer 2y ago
  No, they used the term ‘authoritarian regime’ which commonly means this. See the references I have posted elsewhere in this thread.
  - sanderjd 2y ago
    It doesn't though. You are the only one who has brought up these other countries.
    - nailer 2y ago
      I am not Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
      - sanderjd 2y ago
        No, you're just the person misrepresenting what it says.
        nailer 2y ago
        I’m quoting it. There’s not much I could possibly do to misrepresent it, and as I’ve mentioned, I don’t control every other result on Google which is also entirely similar.
deleted 2y ago
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